Meat Me in Italy
by AlishaVane45
Summary: The FAYZ returns, but this time in little Italy. All because of a small decision and money. So really in a way, Albert Hillsborough had re-created the FAYZ but the rules have changed and powers are not the only thing that these kids need to run from.
1. Authors Note

**Hey so I JUST FINISHED READING THE GONE SERIES FOR LIKE THE 100TH TIME, and I just can't express how much I love them! I'm sorry I'm in a emotional whirl right now, because the books are just like that. They make you laugh, cry, rip out your hair, then try to find your hair and then cry and cry when someone you were rooting for dies. You all know what I mean :) So in order to express how much I love the series, i'm writing a fanfiction. Because thats what fanfiction is for! And I've decided to make this a SYOC so come on up and sumbit your characterssss! PM me your characters with this information!**

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Personality:**

 **Thanks so much! And everyone's character will be introduced in the book! :D**


	2. Patience

Y _ou're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it_ _._

 _\- Robin Williams_

Rachel hated it. Every second. _Patience_. Her mother had always told her. Be patient Rachel and everything will come to you. Well things her mother used to say always had a way of haunting her when she wanted more than anything to get away from it.

"What are you looking at?" She snarled as the old man to her right turned his head abruptly. Leave it to patience for getting her a seat next to the oldest person it could find.

She was used to it though. People looking at her like she was an alien. Sure she was different than the rest of her family with her orange red hair and freckles and skinny ankles. Patience. Hmph. She was tired waiting for everyone to realize she was just like them, but just different.

Her mom would never understand her. Be patience Rachel. Her voice would vibrate in her skull every minute of the day. Your time will come soon. How soon was soon? Viviane her perfect sister had her time since the day she was born. Reagan had his time being the most perfect son and her? She was always a problem. A pain. A something that couldn't be fixed. A simple name. Rachel. She'd had enough of them all. She would be with her dad soon, he would know what to do, he would know how to help, what to say, what to do.

"Anything for you ma'am?"

"An ice cold water please."

Rachel looked outside the small window. She wondered if her mom had noticed she was gone by now. Did she care? Was she calling someone to help? Did she even want her back? Rachel was a problem for her wasn't she? It was better this way, perhaps for both of them.

The man next to her coughed distracting Rachel.

"Your water ma'am would you like-"

Rachel gasped as ice cold water spilled on her legs. A broken shard of glass pierced her thigh and she yelped in pain. She unbuckled her belt examining the damage.

"Goddamn it lady, can't you see where you-"

But she was talking to nothing but a trolley. Furious she turned to the old man but he was gone too. Rachel stood up and kicked the trolley away. The water had soaked through her shorts and her leg was scraped due to the shards of glass, she headed towards the bathroom. Between washing the blood off her legs and drying her shorts she realized something odd. She shook her head. No that couldn't be it. But fear clawed at her heart and she opened the door. Sure enough every seat on the plane was empty.

Had she fallen asleep somehow? Where had everyone gone? Why didn't anyone tell her they were leaving? That stupid old man could have at least been considerate enough to nudge her. You could never trust old people. Rachel groaned. She needed to inform someone that she was still on the plane then her eyes shifted to the window…it wasn't right. Although there was no one in the plane there were still clouds outside, just a blanket of cotton balls…they were somehow still in the air!

"Hello?" Rachel called out her voice getting louder and shakier with each time. "Hello is anybody here? Please I'm supposed to be in New York right now!"

Panic finally reached her. _Patience_ her mother's voice floated in her brain. Shut up she told it. Right now she didn't need patience. She needed a way out. She needed to figure out what was going on. Heart pounding she searched the different compartments. Surely there was a stewardess somewhere who could help her. The first compartment. Empty. The 2nd one. Empty. The third one too.

The she heard sobbing. Rachel almost jumped. There was someone here.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" She grinned. The sobbing was getting louder. She didn't care who was crying, she was just glad someone else was here with her. That was before she was shoved roughly to the side.

"Hey!"

The girl hadn't even glanced back. She ran to the first couple of seats and bent down to pull out a small child, the small child who was crying. Furious as she was for being shoved unconcernedly to the side, it angered her even more as she saw the girl. She reminded Rachel every bit of her sister. The same luscious brown hair and creamy skin. The girl was hugging the little boy telling him it would be ok.

Then she noticed Rachel.

"Do you know what's going on?" She asked. Rachel raised a brow. No sorry for knocking you over? She was beginning to hate this girl even more.

"I don't know any more than you do." Rachel said finally, her arms folded showing that she didn't like this girl one bit.

The girl hadn't even batted an eyelash at Rachel's rudeness and simply grabbed the kid and ran off towards what Rachel supposed was the front of the plane. Rachel let out a suppressed scream and followed her.

"Where do you think you're going?" She called towards the girl. Without turning the girl answered.

"I'm trying to find out what's going on!"

"Doesn't seem like you're getting anywhere." Rachel said rolling her eyes. "Where are you going anyways?"

"The front of the plane, there has to be _someone_ driving this plane."

Rachel blinked. Of course. Even if everyone else was gone, someone had to be driving this thing. Maybe he would help them get back.

They ran. Rachel and the girl with the little weeping boy. It was an odd trio to be part of. She wasn't particularly fond of children and especially weeping ones. And the girl, she was everything Rachel wasn't. Her mother would certainly like this girl which made Rachel instantly dislike her.

"This way!" The girl cried suddenly pushing the curtains away. It was certainly the pilot's room, but there was no pilot.

Instead there was a boy about 11 or 12 years old sitting on the chair and marveling at the various buttons and controls in front of him.

"Who are you?" The girl asked as he swiveled to face them. He was certainly no pilot. The kid was dressed in all black and held a plastic light saber in his hand.

"You're real? I didn't know there was anyone else on the plane!" He looked down at his light saber in awe. "I _knew_ the force was real. It brought you guys here!" He grinned.

"Ok. Just, just move away from there. Let me figure it out." The girl said as the boy nodded. "I'm Nico."

"Cameron." Cameron said giving Nico a smile.

Rachel leaned forward looking at the controls. Her eyes rested on a set of numbers. 5:02. 5:01. 5:00: 4:59:4:58.

"It's on auto pilot!" She said out loud.

"What?" the girl, Cameron, said turning towards Rachel as if Rachel had disturbed her.

Rachel pointed to the numbers that were still counting down. "The plane. It's on autopilot. After that it's on its own."

"Do any of you know how to fly a plane?" Nico asked. "If it was a shuttle, I could handle it. I've watched all the movies 100 times and I've re-watched the scenes where they operate the shuttle so-"

"Ok kid- Nico, just stay with John Doe here and let us figure it out." Rachel said pointing to kid Cameron had saved before. He was now sitting crisscrossed on his blanket looking solemnly at them.

"John Doe has a name." Cameron said darkly. " _Derek_ , stay with Nico and don't move ok. I'm going to see if I can find a way to stop this."

Rachel was frustrated now. "Don't you see? We have _less_ than 3 minutes to get this plane flying before the auto pilot function stops. If we don't we will be falling to our deaths, in an ocean, or even land if we're lucky, but we most certainly _won't_ be alive!"

Cameron looked back at the timer as if realizing how dangerous things were. They shared a look and then both focused on the controls. Rachel had never tried to fly a plane on her own. It simply wasn't something she was taught at school, if she ever got back she would make sure to take a class on it.

"This lever could be it, no wait I think that's to go down." Rachel said her fingers shaking.

"No the lever is probably for something else." Cameron snapped.

"What about that? Oh this is never going to work!" Rachel was scared now. Her aggression had melted away. What would her mother say if she was here? Patience. Sure. That's exactly what she needed.

"If a plane falls, how long do you think it would take to reach the bottom?" She asked Cameron eyes wide.

"We're about 36,000 feet above, and if we fall, we'll pick up speed falling since there's nothing to cushion – _the life jackets_!" Cameron whispered suddenly. Rachel nodded. She had payed attention to the emergency procedures, sort of.

"Under the seats!" Nico cried.

Derek was already crawling underneath the seats.

"Hurry!" Rachel said. There was an almost excitement in her voice. They were going to get off this plane. She was going to be saved.

"It's not getting on!" Nico cried his eyes wide with fear. Rachel rolled her eyes and moved towards him, trying to get him to put it on properly.

"Hurry up!" Cameron cried insistently. "We need to find a way to open the emergency latch!"

" _YOU_ find it!" Rachel screamed. "That is if you can see anything over saving yourself!"

"Oh really? Maybe you haven't realized but we're going to be pancakes in a few moments and I'm not going to take my chances."

"I figured enough." Rachel said. "You're not the only one on here alright. _All_ of us need to get off safely."

"You don't know me ok." Cameron snapped. "I've been trying to save our butts ever since everyone disappeared! What have you been doing?"

Before Rachel could figure out what to say the plane lurched. Rachel's stomach suddenly felt really light. It was a queer feeling, like the one she felt when she was on a rollercoaster and the scary part was just a drop away. Cameron only gave her a panicked look before she grabbed Derek and made a run towards Rachel and Nico and then they were all thrown back.


	3. Anubis

_"The sun does not abandon the moon to darkness."_

 _― Brian A. McBride_

Rachel's only thought was dropping. She was free, lightweight as a feather. She had always imagined how it would be to die. To fall from a great height, her hair floating behind her like a curtain, her eyes closed almost as if she was asleep. There would be no screaming. No shouts. No last minute wishes. But reality is always different.

She remembered screaming, being thrown against something hard, something had punctured her left eye and she didn't want to imagine what was in her mouth. And then it was dark and light was pushing through. There was light! She could see small beams penetrating through the darkness and then the light engulfed her. She was alive and next to a…toilet.

Rachel screamed and jumped up before falling back. Her back ached like a million things had hit it. She could see red scratches on her already freckly skin and her head was pounding. With a jolt she remembered the plane, then everyone disappearing and then that girl…what was her name. For a scary second she couldn't remember what her own name was. Rachel. She was Rachel. It hit her like a jolt of electricity and she stood up shakily.

She was wet but she didn't dwell on the fact where the water had come from. She was still on the plane and completely alone. There was food strewn on the floor. She gingerly took a step over someone's rice and cutlets only to fall back into a seat. There was no way she could move, her back had given up.

So this is the way she would die. Even after surviving the fall, her back would let her die. Rachel laughed. Patience. She would embrace it willingly. Patiently she would wait to die. Her mother would be proud.

Someone was grinning at her. Rachel smiled back. Death had come to get her. She could make out his caramel skin and black hair. Rachel had always been fascinated with Egyptian myths. So this was Anubis. She wished she was prettier, the epitome of beauty as she was dying and then she lost conscience.

And then something cold hit her face. Again.

She screamed and jumped up. She would not deal with this again.

"She's awake!" A girl was shouting. She was jumping up and down her hair a mess of honey curls bobbing up and down with her. "Julian look I did it!"

"Musket! You did it!" A boy swooped down and grabbed the girl. She giggled and then they both turned to face Rachel.

"I'm drenched in water!" Rachel screamed in horror. "And who are you?"

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm Julian and this is Musket."

"It's Muskaan." The little girl said pointedly.

Rachel looked at Julian. He was the one she had seen before. "Anubis?"

"She's lost it." The little girl said.

"No!" Rachel stood up, she stood up. She could stand up. "I can walk. I can stand up! Oh my god I can walk!" She grinned forgetting she was wet or where she was.

"You're welcome." The little girl said. "It took all day. But you're good to go."

"Where am I?" Rachel asked.

"You were on the plane, before it crashed." Julian said. "I'm sorry about the water, Musket gets a little crazy at times."

"How did you find me?" Rachel asked. "I can't believe the plane – I'm alive."

"We were asleep when the plane fell, I was almost dead." Julian said "And the Musket found me, she healed me and now you."

"Are you a doctor?" Rachel asked eyeing the girl. She was a tiny thing maybe 9 or 10 years old.

"No I just- I don't know. I just touched him and he healed." Her eyes grew wide. "Like magic."

"Ok." Rachel said. They were all crazy. "Wait did you find anyone else on the plane? A girl and 2 boys?"

"I searched the whole plane, hoping to find someone and then I found you."

Rachel sat down. They hadn't survived…the idea hit her hard and she found it hard to breathe.

"Do you know what happened to everyone?" Julian asked handing her a bag of chips. Lays. She hated classics but she was hungry.

"No I was gone for like a minute and then they were gone. Everyone." Her lips trembled. "There were 4 of us. 3 others beside me, we had our life jackets on and then we fell, are you sure no one else was on the plane?" She hated the desperation in her voice.

Julian shook his head. "Like you said everyone else was gone. Except me, Musket and you."

"Where are we?" Rachel asked looking around. Julian just stood up and Rachel followed him. The plane had landed on the edge of a cliff, its mouth opened towards the sea.


	4. Cat

_"Almost everything strange washes up near Miami. "_

 _-Rick Riordan_

"Hey!"

But Zara was already running. Her shoes were kicking mud as she ran but she knew she had to outrun them.

"Hurry up!" She cried pushing the little girl in front of her to run faster. "Take it and go! Don't look at me like that! You deserve it!"

The girl looked at her and stuffed the cash in her dress. The she left giving Zara a quick peck on her cheek. Zara smiled as she watched her disappear. Now for those rotten bastards. The little girl was just collecting money singing on the road side and they had come and took it all. It wasn't stealing really. It was justice.

"There she is!" one of the men called and Zara ran faster, her brown hair whipping behind her. She ran past the confused on looking Italians, past twisting alleys filled with bright taffy colored houses and then she tripped.

"Damn it!" She cried. Her knee was bleeding and her book bag was thrown across, its contents touching the rich earth. She could hear the men getting closer.

"She went this way!"

"Let's go!"

Biting her lip she picked herself up and shoved her things hastily in her bag. Her knee was throbbing but she could deal with it.

"Little girls such as yourself shouldn't be wandering here." Said a voice and Zara turned to see one of the men. She gasped and moved back. They came from different corners, surrounding her.

"Give us the money." One said his accent thick.

"I don't have it." Zara said her chin set. "And it wasn't your to begin with. It was the girls, she earned it."

"Give us the money girl!" Another one cried and Zara moved back instinctively. Her back touched only wall. She looked around; there was no one who could help her. No one to see that she needed help. She always hated it when situations like this took an ugly turn.

"Look I'm warning you." Zara said pointing at them. "I have dangerous things in this bag, and I promise _you_ will get hurt."

Was it bluffing? Yes.

Was it going to work? She hoped so.

The men looked at each other nervously. One of them moved forward and Zara made a show of trying to open her bag, he moved back instinctively.

Back in middle school Zara had been nicknamed the cat. Mostly it was because of her green eyes. But was nothing like a cat. She wasn't small; instead she was tall, slender and not someone that could sneak her way around a group of men. But she was strong. And very big on doing things when she had to. Without a second to lose she eyed the small area between the fat man and the short man. She had one chance to do this right. Her only chance.

She reached a hand into her a bag and slowly pulled out a ruler. The men hesitated and Zara sensing her chance ran, but not fast enough. They lunged at her. screamed hoping the men would leave and then she hit the ground. She screamed and screamed hoping someone would hear. Nothing happened. She opened one eye. No one was around her. The men had left. She laughed in relief, it had worked.

Smiling, she stuffed the ruler back in her bag and checked to see if the rest of her stuff was there. With her right hand she had started a braid that slung over her shoulder. Her hair had come loose during the run and she hated open hair. Satisfied with her braid she slung the bag over her shoulder and looked around to make sure no one was hiding, it was eerily quiet. She bit her lip and headed back to the market feeling the strong urge to be around people.

The marketplace was deserted when she found it. The shops were fine, there were no broken windows or signs of a struggle, but everyone was gone.

"Hello?" she called not that anyone would answer. Was it an evacuation of some kind? Zara wondered. Everyone had just left their stores wide open and stalls unsupervised. If she wanted to, she could have simply picked up one of the apples from the fruit stand without paying. Not that she would.

She heard a sound and whipped her head around.

It was just a stray cat trying to find something to eat. Zara knelt down and motioned the cat to come towards her. It stopped and stayed where it was. Odd.

"Are you lost?" she called slowly moving towards the cat. The cat didn't move. Zara slowly picked up and apple, still walking towards the cat. She set the apple down and then noticed what was odd.

The day was normal, Zara felt normal but what was odd was the cat itself. Not the color. It was an orange tabby cat with a white stripe along its back, but the apple. No the apple was normal too, all red and shiny. But the cat, although clearly an adult cat, was the same size as the apple.


	5. The girl with blue hair

_"Curious ."_

 _-The Chesire cat_

It could fit in her pocket and Zara loved it. She couldn't be a cat but a cat could be part of her. It was a freak of nature and she loved it. Her own little oddball.

"Come on Macy, let's go find where everyone else went."

She didn't have to go far, because there in the middle of the plaza square was a group of kids playing some sort of game with a ball and stick. She could only describe it as the closest thing to hockey.

The only kid that stood out from the group was a short skinny freckled boy with green eyes that were partially covered by his floppy brown hair. He wasn't playing like the rest of them; instead he was watching the kids with great interest. He noticed Zara and Zara waved. It was nice to see someone non-Italian for once.

The boy had vanished. Zara looked around. Was she that scary?

"Hey, um do you guys know where everyone else went?"

The group of kids stopped and stared at her. Then resumed to their game. Zara stomped her foot. She hated little kids. Walking around them she headed towards the end of the plaza. Maybe everyone had gone there. It was then she noticed she was being followed. She had always had an instinct for danger or maybe it was that danger loved her. Either way she safely tucked Macy in her pocket and walked slowly. Whoever it was would walk faster as to catch up to her and then Zara would sucker punch the creep.

Maybe it was the freckly kid from before. Maybe he just wanted to talk. Ok she would look at the creep first and then see if he was worth the punch. The person was getting closer and Zara whipped herself around. He wasn't freckles boy and X marked the spot.

"OH- oww damnit!" The boy groaned as he looked up at Zara. "You punch well for a girl."

She gave him another.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you. I just meant you punch good- ah – am I bleeding?"

The boy was indeed bleeding. Zara mentally fist bumped herself. She was good. He looked about 15 -16 with black hair and brown eyes that looked up at her.

"What do you want?" Zara asked her voice rising. "I have things in this bag that I'm not afraid to use."

"Bring out the ruler." The boy laughed. "Just kidding. I'm sorry for startling you; I just thought you might know what happened."

"What happened?" Zara repeated. "About what?"

"Making everyone disappear."

"I did that?" Zara cried. " _I'm_ the reason everyone's gone?"

"Well you were screaming when I heard you and then all the goons disappeared. I thought maybe they ran, but then I got back to the plaza and my brother was gone too along with my mom."

"Why were _you_ following me in the first place?" Zara asked suspiciously. "You're with them aren't you? Where are they? Did they send you to find me?"

She did pull out her ruler and pointed it at the boy.

"You think too much. You can put the ruler down, I was just going to thank you for helping my sister."

Zara remembered the girl from before, who she had helped with the money.

"Oh you're her brother." She said lamely then added. "I couldn't have made everyone go away. I just wished those creeps would leave, not _everyone_."

The boy looked at her strangely. "All I know is that after your scream everyone disappeared."

Zara gulped. Did she do it? Was it really her? Had her scream made everyone go away?

"Hold on, if I made everyone disappear, not that I did, then why are you still here?"

This made the boy pause. "I don't know." He said finally.

"Well than I couldn't possibly have done this." Zara said. She didn't know when the boy had joined her in walking to who knows where. "If I made everyone disappear then you wouldn't be here so see I didn't make everyone disappear."

Zara heard it first. The screeching of wheels and then –

"HEY YOU TWO OUT OF THE WAY!" a red convertible was speeding towards them. A girl was waving her arms back and forth from the car.

"STOP THE CAR!" The boy yelled moving protectively in front of Zara.

"I CAN'T!" She screamed "MOVE OUT OFF THE WAY! I CAN'T STOP IT!"

The boy had other ideas. Zara had moved to side, the car was getting closer and she wasn't interested in dying any time soon. The boy was running towards the car. He was going to get himself killed.

Zara couldn't help herself. "What are you doing? _Do you want to get yourself killed?_ Not that you might get killed, but do you _really_ want to die?"

The boy hadn't listened. He was making a run for it and then when it seemed like it would crush him, he jumped into the car. There was a skittering of wheels and Zara shut her eyes and covered Macy. The car had stopped to a halt and she exhaled in relief.

The girl introduced herself as Asia Powers. Her steely gray eyes looked at Zara like she was a disease, but her eyes sparkled at the boy who Zara realized was named Alfonso. Asia reminded Zara of chocolate but her blue hair destroyed the image.

"My cousin was driving and then he was just – gone. I tried to stop it but it kept on going. Thankfully I didn't run into anyone but I was terrified!" Asia recounted telling her story of she was in the car in the first place.

"Seems like everyone is gone." Alfonso said. "My brother, your cousin, most of the parents here."

"Most?" Zara asked.

"Well everyone, like all the grownups." Alfonso rephrased. "All the grown-ups seem to have gone."

"There are only little kids." Zara said recalling the group of children she had seen earlier. "And of course you, not that you're not a kid- uh how old are you?"

"16." Alfonso said. He turned to Asia who just shrugged. "Just turned 16 last month."

"So everyone 16 and over is just – gone?" Zara reasoned looking up at Alfonso.

"How old did you say your brother was Asia?"

"I didn't." She said. "He's 18."

"Marco was 19." Alfonso said. "He disappeared too. So everyone under 18 is here, and everyone else is just gone?"

"Pretty weird thing to happen." Asia mused. "Why would the adults just disappear all of a sudden?"

The kids Zara had seen earlier were shouting. They were all running towards her. No, not towards her, she corrected as they ran past her. They were all running towards something in the sky. Zara squinted. She could see three birds, no wings, no planes…

"Parachutes!" Asia cried. "There are people on them. I think- I think they're falling!"

Alfonso was already in the car, Zara jumped in the back seat. Macy looked up excited and Zara tucked her back.

"They're going to fall near the village!" Asia said. "We were there before the car was on it's own."

Alfonso stepped up the engine. They were going fast now. The kids were running after them now. Zara stuck her tongue at them. Beat that.

"There!" Asia said. There was a crumpled heap of white on the ground. Alfonso jumped out the car and Zara followed him in suit.

The girl wasn't dead. She was breathing. Her forehead was covered in blood and her companions were the same.

"Grab them." Alfonso commanded picking up the girl. "And Zara, go find Sandy and Ria. They live right around here."


	6. Walking Alive

_When the fishbowl gets too small, it's time to pack up and leave and jump into the lake or ocean._

 _-Travie McCoy_

Muskaan had found real food in the plane and Rachel had to admit she could get used to it. They had explored the plane and found more than food. The bottom of the plane was used to store everyone's luggage and soon Rachel, Musket and Julian had a fresh pair of clothes, and an I-pod where they listened to songs, that although were in French were good enough to pass the time.

"How do you think someone is going to find us?" Rachel said as Julian asked what she was doing.

"I see people do it in the movies all the time. They send up a flare, so that a plane can see it and then they're rescued." Rachel said as she rubbed the 2 rocks together, hoping for a spark. She had already placed rocks in an orderly fashion so that it spelled S-O-S.

"I don't think it's going to work." Julian said. "When the plane fell, it should have automatically sent a distress signal to headquarters. They should have been arriving with help soon. Maybe tomorrow at the latest."

"Sure." Rachel said not wanting to admit that it made sense. She threw the rock towards the water. "Where was it you were headed if this thing hadn't crashed?"

"California." Julian said smiling. "Sun, girls in bikini, lobsters and sand."

Rachel shook her head. She hated the sun. Maybe because it reminded her how different she was than the rest of her family. Her skin had a tendency to burn.

"What about you?" Julian asked. "Where you headed?"

"New York. To my dad's."

"Your parents divorced?" Julian asked.

"Mhmm." Rachel said. "I prefer my dad over her though. I actually ran away from home to get on this flight. Now that I think about it, if I hadn't I would still be at home, right now."

"Don't think of it like that." Julian said. "If you hadn't you would have never met me and Musket."

"It's Muskaan!" Muskaan yelled from inside the plane.

"About Muske-aan." Rachel said. "How did she heal me exactly?"

"She just touched you, and your scars faded, and your back became straighter."

"You know you sound like an idiot." Rachel said. "You make it sound like she has some sort of freakish power to fix people."

Julian looked at her. "I can prove it."

Rachel shook her head as Muskaan touched Julian's arm. The bleeding stopped and the scar faded into nothing. "That has to be impossible."

"I thought so too." Julian said. "But then I watched her heal you and I thought maybe it's not."

"How long have you been able to do this Muskaan?" Rachel asked. The girl scared her now, just a little.

"I've never tried until I saw Julian on the plane. He was nearly dead when I found him. And then just again with you." Muskaan said and looked down. "I don't know. I never knew I could do it before."

If you told Rachel yesterday that a girl could heal with a touch, she would have laughed at you. But she had seen a place full of people just disappear, and she had just felt what death was, and something was telling her that no one was coming for them.

"We have no idea where we are. It's not New York or California-"

"Or Chicago." Muskaan piped up.

"Or Chicago." Rachel agreed. "But I'm not going to just wait here. If someone is coming to help us they'll look around, and so that's what I'm going to do. I can't just sit here and wait for them to come to us."

The truth was it bothered Rachel that even though she wanted to be away from her mom and with her dad, she had ended in the middle of nowhere. She had no idea where she was and how she was going to get back. But she wasn't one to give up. Not Rachel Gina.

Grabbing a hiking bag from the luggage area, she refilled it with fresh clothes, a couple of snacks (Granola bars and marshmallows) a few bottles of water, and some microwavable dinners. She replaced her shoes with sneakers, the closest she could find to her size was a 7 ½.

She turned to say a last bye to Julian and Muskaan but was surprised to see them with similar bags of their own looking at her expectantly.

"We figured that if you were to go somewhere, you would need someone to keep you out of trouble." Julian said as Muskaan added "And someone to save you if you get hurt again."

Rachel grinned "And you two are bored out of your mind as well."

"Might've slipped out." Julian laughed and Muskaan giggled.

"We should have a name for ourselves." Muskaan added s an afterthought. "You know since we're sort of a group now?"

"I'm thinking 'The Julian's'" Julian said "It has a ring to it, don't you think?"

"No." Rachel said.

"Haven't you watched Madagascar?" Julian asked. "The king's name is Julian, so it _would_ have a ring to it."

"If you guys name me Mort because I'm the shortest one," Muskaan said "I'm going to stop moving."

"We're not going to be named after _Lemurs_." Rachel sang.

"What about the red heads?" Julian said "Please don't say no!"

" _Julian_!"

"What about The walkers?" Muskaan added. "I mean its lame but we're walking and we're going to keep walking until we find whatever it is we're looking for."

"I like it." Rachel said. "The Walkers. We keep walking on. Although it reminds me of the Walking Dead a bit too much."

"I like it Musket. I like it." Julian said. "Although 'The Julian' still has a nice ring to it."

" _Julian!_ "


	7. Sandy and Ria

**No quote for this one...but Lady-Ladris I hope you like your characters! And I forgot to give a shout out to iristmr, I hope you liked your character of Zara! Ok back to reading!**

Zara groaned. While everyone else was having fun she was stuck on tracker duty.

"Go find Ria and Sandy." Zara mimicked Alfonso's voice. Why had she even listened? She didn't even know the answer to that.

And where was she supposed to find them anyways? Zara did not plan on searching every house for them. The houses here all were of different colors, from cotton candy pink to a most clear blue. They curved around the cliff and from the top Zara could see the sparkling Mediterranean glistening.

She knocked on one door. To her surprise it was open when she turned the handle.

"Hello?" She called out her voice ringing in the empty house. "Is anyone here? I'm looking for a Sandy? And Ria? Hello?"

In response she heard nothing. And feeling quite lonely stepped out, but not before she heard the sound of crying. It was coming from upstairs. Zara walked in feeling like an intruder and located the room. She could see the tiny baby crying its face red. She looked around for something to make it stop.

And then she was carrying the baby around in a stroller around the neighborhood. There was no one around and she couldn't just leave it. It reminded her of aunt Leia's son, Bradley. She adored him.

"Where exactly are you taking our little Biagico?"

She wasn't much taller than Zara with thick chunky black curls and a cruel smile. Her accent was thick as well as her frame.

"He was crying and I was trying to calm him down." Zara said to her. She had faced plenty of girls like her before.

"Here hand him over." The girl said. "I can take care of him until his ma arrives."

Zara sighed. How was she going to explain to her that the adults were all gone, when she didn't even know if it was true? It couldn't be. It made no sense.

"I'm looking for Sandy and Ria, do you know where I could find them?"

Something sparked in her eyes and she smiled. "What do you want with them?"

"I was told to look for them." Zara said. She crossed her arms defensively.

"Who was it that told _you_ to look for them?"

Zara sighed. "Look if you can help me, then please go ahead. If not I have others things to be doing."

"Wait!" the girl called. "I will help you! I know where Sandy is. Come, I'll take you to her."

Something was finally going right. Zara nodded and the girl led the way.

They arrived at a tree. Zara just looked at the girl.

"I didn't say she was easy to find." She pointed at the top of the tree. "She lives up there. But she doesn't just meet anyone. How important is it that you find her?"

"Very important." She just needed to get these girls and take them to Alfonso. "How do we get it – her to come down?" If this Sandy lived in a tree, maybe it wasn't even a human.

The girl smiled. "It's difficult. We need to call her down, make her want to come down."

"How?"

"She likes it when people plead with her, ah what is the word? Ah yes _beg_."

Zara raised her brows. But she needed this Sandy person, so that she could go back to Alfonso. She didn't know what it was, but after watching him save Asia, she felt the need to do anything for him.

She closed her eyes. "Oh Sandy please come down! I really-er need your help. It's urgent. Pleaseeee?"

She heard laughing. The girl was on the ground laughing, her black curls touching the ground. "You should hear yourself! Bahahahahaahahahah!"

Zara blinked. She was beyond mad. Who was this girl? She just made a complete fool of herself and Zara hated it.

"Real funny. Truly." Zara said, "I thought I would find Sandy up there, but I guess I was already with her the whole time."

The girl stopped laughing, her eyes wide. "You insult me darling. I could easily –"

"Adriana!" This girl was taller and skinny with the same shade of black hair as the first, only straight, and their faces identical.

"Who're you?" Zara asked defensively. She'd already been made a fool of once.

"I'm Alessandra." She smiled easily. "And I see you've met my sister –"

"Adriana Capello – also known as Ria."

"You!" Zara cried ready to pounce on Ria but Sandy held her back. "Woah, easy there. Ria, why do you always do this?"

"She- ughf!" Zara screamed.

"I apologize on her behalf." Sandy said and Zara sensed sincerity from her that she didn't from Ria. "What is it that you were looking for me for?"

Zara sighed. "Alfonso sent me. To find you and _her_."

" _Her_ has a name sweetie." Ria shook her head and smiled. "I'm sorry about that. I was just having fun."

Zara rolled her eyes.

"Alfonso wants us? Where is he? " Sandy asked. " And why?"

"No idea. He just said to find you both and bring you to him."

Biagico started crying and Ria cooed making him quiet.

"Where's Rosetta?" Sandy eyed Biagico. "Did she not come back?"

Ria shook her head and pointed to Zara. "She had him. She said the house was empty."

Sandy bit her lip. "Lead the way."

Alfonso was waiting by the red car. Asia next to him, her aqua blue hair shining brightly against the red. There were 3 others with them. Zara waved getting their attention but Ria and Sandy were already running to Alfonso, each planting a kiss on his cheek accompanied by a hug.

"We were worried!" Ria cried. "We were looking for you all morning!"

"Rosetta's been missing since this afternoon. When Ria and I went to check on her she was gone, and same with the Boniva's and Pedro- Maria?"

Sandy hugged the boy on the right. "Where were you? We were worried!"

"I went to the restaurant to find Papa, but he was….gone." Pedro said. "Maria saw him."

Little Maria looked down sadly. "Papa gone."

Sandy shook her head. "No."

Alfonso shook his head. "The adults are all gone Sandy."

"What?" Ria pleaded. "You're bluffing. That only happens in movies Alfonso. This is real life."

"I know." Alfonso said. "But it's true. Everyone 18 and older is just gone. Lorenzo is gone too and Asia here – "Asia nodded "Her brother went missing too."

"Do you think someone's kidnapped them?" Zara asked. "All the adults?"

"No." Asia spoke. "My brother was with me when he disappeared. I saw it myself."

"What time?" Sandy asked.

"I'd say about 12:30 ish in the afternoon –"

"Papa!" Maria cried.

"That's when papa vanished too." Pedro agreed.

"And Gilberto."

Ria cradled Biagico. "You said you didn't see anything!"

"I thought it was just a trick of light –"Sandy fell to the ground. "What are we going to do? How do we _tell_ everyone?"

"I don't know." Alfonso said. "There are going to be a lot of kids running around here wondering where there parents are. We need to tell them, to explain that they're not here right now, we're going to need to get them all together somehow –"

"Sooner or later everyone is going to realize their parents are not home." Pedro said.

"I don't want to think about how many kids are sitting at home right now, not even realizing that somethings wrong."

Zara nodded. "What happened to the girl?"

"She's unconscious." They followed Asia to the tent/makeshift hospital "I tried to help as much as I could, but I'm no doctor."

Pedro turned to Ria and Sandy "Can you get your dad's things and see what you can do? You help your dad sometimes around the hospital right?"

Sandy nodded. "I'll be back in a few."

Zara stared at the girl on the bed. She looked so peaceful there, sleeping. And Zara hoped that she didn't wake up, not because she didn't want the girl to be ok, but because she was sure once she woke up things were going to be very different


	8. Friaser

_"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."_

 _-Lord Acton_

Giant bottles of rubbing alcohol, silver instruments, cotton balls and things in plastic containers Alfonso had no name for cluttered around the floor. Ria had already started working on the two boys, cleaning their cuts, checking their temperatures. Asia was poised ready to help.

Sandy stood their nervously rubbing her arms.

"What is it?" Alfonso asked. He didn't like the way she was acting.

"It's the medals. When I went to get the supplies, I thought I should keep them somewhere safe so it's not stolen, but they were already gone."

"Papa's medals?" Ria asked quickly. "Who could have taken them? I locked the doors when I left."

Alfonso's face paled and he ran. He ran as fast his legs could take him. Kids shouted at him asking him where their parents were but he ignored them. The front door was unlocked as he had expected and with further inspection he concluded that it was all gone. All his brothers' hard work, stolen.

Someone wheezed behind him. The girl Zara stood in the doorway coughing. "Why did you run so fast?" She let out another cough.

"Why are you following me?" Alfonso asked. He wasn't in the mood to be chatty right now.

"Is your stuff gone too?" Zara asked. "I was thinking about going to check the hotel, where we're staying but it's far –"

"Stay here. I can't figure anything out, if everyone's all over the place."

Zara nodded and looked around. "This your house?" She walked in tenderly, looking towards him to see if he would stop her. He said nothing.

He threw her a bag of chips and dropped on the couch. "It's all gone. We spent years saving all that."

"Where do you think it went? Maybe your parents took it before –."

"They didn't know about it." Alfonso said. "It was going to be a gift for her birthday. And besides the door was unlocked before I came in. Someone must have taken it and left it open. Amazing. Parents disappear and then I get robbed, I wonder what's next?"

Zara coughed suddenly nearly choking on her chips.

"Drink up." Alfonso urged but Zara just shook her head. "The doors were unlocked when I went to look for Sandy and Ria too, but look!"

She pointed outside where a pair of kids were laughing as they dropped something heavy in bags.

Alfonso muttered something and ran after them. The two boys noticing this made a run for it.

Zara looked at Alfonso. "Those are Fraisers thugs. They're the ones behind the looting. Come on."

"You can't just confront them like that. Besides we have more pressing concerns-"

Zara was talking to air.

""Listen to me, you can't just go to him and demand your stuff back!" Zara tried to explain but Alfonso wasn't listening.

"FRAISER!" Alfonso screamed as a thin looking frail boy with straw colored hair came out of the cave.

"A welcome sight." He said "Back to join?"

Alfonso clenched his fist. "I said I was over when I left."

The boy flicked out a speck of dust from his shoulder "Pity."

"Give me back my money! And the rest of the things you've stolen."

"Who's going to make me?" Fraiser said grinning. "I don't see the police coming do I? Perhaps you know where they've gone?" He laughed. "Well I hope wherever they are they stay that way. The way I see it, we're free. We can rule at last."

"You know it's wrong and you're still not going to stop." Zara said. "You really are something."

"Listen sweetie." Frasier said. "I don't know about you, but sooner or later, you're going to see it my way. Both of you. When you want something you just got to take it. When there is a empty space, you have to fill. And that my friends is power. "

Alfonso was ready to attack but Fraisers guards were ready with guns. Zara's eyes widened. She didn't know where they got those from but they weren't good news.

"Leave him. Let's just go, it's pointless fighting them." Zara said as Fraiser laughed. "Listen to her Big Fonso."

As the sun went lower, more and more kids were leaving their houses and coming down to the Plaza in search of their parents.

"Do you know where my mom is?" A boy asked

"Why don't you go and play for now. I'm sure it'll be ok." Alfonso asked. "Say what go get some Gelato from Jovanni's."

"I don't have money."

"That's ok. It's free today."

"Ok."

"Pedro's not going to be happy about that." Zara said. "All these kids you're sending to him for free Gelato."

"Well it's either that or I tell them that all the moms and dads are gone." Alfonso said. "How're they?"

"Better." Ria said. "Sandy fixed them up. They're just sleeping right now. We still haven't gotten the girl to wake up."

"Is she –"Zara asked as she saw one of the boys stirring.

Asia spoke this time. "No, no. I can hear her breathing at least. I'm going to go and help Pedro at the restaurant, apparently he's giving free gelato."

"Gelato?" the boy asked. He looked about 11 with messy black hair that could rival Sandy's.

"Oh good you're awake." Ria said. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Very sore."

"What's your name? Do you remember anything before you got here?"

"One at a time, Ria." Alfonso laughed.

The boy nodded. "Nico. I remember the plane falling and then we jumped - my light saber!"

"You fell from a _plane_?"

"Yes, there was no pilot and then they both came and they tried to drive the plane- my light saber is still on the plane." The boy said sadly, then his eyes lit up. "Where's everyone else?"

"You mean them?" Sandy asked pointing to the sleeping girl and boy.

"We found you three after you dropped from the plane –"

"Is she ok? Why isn't she waking up?" His question was left unanswered as someone screamed outside.

Alfonso peered outside. Kids were running around. This time he heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

"You listen to me next time kid. We make the rules here." One of Fraisers thugs was prodding a fallen kid with the tip of his gun. Everyone else looked on terrified.

"Easy Mace. Be gentle." Fraiser himself stood in the middle. "I know all the adults are gone, and we're all scared. But it's ok, we're going to be ok. I have a plan to make sure we're ok. For now we all need to stick together and believe that everything will be fine."

"What a load of bullshit." Asia was eating her gelato, a furious Pedro at her side.

"Will I see my mommy?"

Fraiser looked down. "I don't know kid. But I'll tell you this, if your mom was here, she would say be strong, so can you be strong for her?"

The kid nodded and everyone nodded.

Fraiser stepped down and walked towards Alfonso. "Beat that."

"Just because you can comfort a crowd doesn't make you a God."

"Well I don't see you doing much Fonso."

Alfonso glared. "Sandy there's a bleeding kid out there, he needs help."

"Alessandra." Fraiser called. "Falling in daddy's footsteps I see. You like playing doctor do you?"

"I like helping people if that's what you mean." Sandy replied calmly helping the kid up. "No thanks to you of course."

"Why if you needed help, you should have asked sweetie." He clapped his hands and a few of his thugs appeared. "Make sure they get everything they need."

"I don't like him." Nico said quietly to no one.


	9. Murderer

_When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful._

 _\- Malala Yousafzai_

"How come he gets to make rules? Everyone knows he's just a thug, and now all of a sudden they're okay with him being the president?" Pedro slammed the door.

"Clam down Gelato boy. Who is he anyway?" Asia asked. "I'm from Detroit, this is all just a summer vacation turned nightmare for me."

"Not a friend, that's for sure."

"I'm stuck in the hospital!" Sandy screamed. "As official doctor along with Ria. I can't even say no because then I wouldn't know what to do and I can't just leave everyone here. Who else would take care of them?"

"At least you're not a babysitter." Zara said. "My job is to go check on the little kids stuck in the houses and bring them to building 401."

"At least he's getting _something_ done." Cameron said. She had awoken last night realizing where she was. "While everyone else is sitting around doing nothing, he's getting people to do something. He's becoming the authority, the adult of this place. And look at we have now? A working hospital, a place to keep little kids, people are going around making sure dangerous things are locked away from little children. He's making it safe for everyone."

"You don't know what he's like." Alfonso said bitterly.

"Maybe. But least I can see that he's trying to make this place work. A place without adults, without any supervision. Kids need someone to look up to and take control. Come on, Derek."

She was in Italy. The plane had crashed and landed them in freaking Italy. 80,000 miles away from where she was supposed to be. She always wanted to go, but not like this. Not in a place where there were no adults. They walked into Building 401 which was originally home to the famous Italian actor Reyman Picasso who disappeared with the rest of the adults, and was now a daycare of sorts to the kids of this strange town.

Neat. Cameron thought as she walked in. There were kids playing games, eating, laughing and talking not concerned with where their parents were. All under 5 years old. A couple of Fraisers thugs were there trying to get some of the kids to be quiet and stop crying.

"Go and have fun Derek." Cameron said to her brother. "I'll be back later."

"Hey you're not going to help with this?" A boy called "I can't make them stop crying."

Cameron closed her eyes. She was trying not to get sucked into helping little kids, but she couldn't say no. After 4 hours of feeding kids, breaking up fights, taking them to the bathroom, Cameron slumped to the ground exhausted.

"I brought more food." Dolly was back indeed carrying food she had scourged from people's houses. One of Fraiser's improvements was to get people to collect food and anything useful from the homes so that they could use it.

"Thanks." Cameron said sorting out the canned foods, from the soft chewy foods. "Where do you think I should put this –?"

Derek was giggling and Cameron smiled. It wasn't something she heard often and Dolly seemed to be the reason for it. She was a sweet girl, only a year younger than Cameron.

"Why don't you work here in the building?" Cameron suggested.

"Can't. Fraisers assigned me to collections."

Cameron took a long drink. "So? I think you're better here than collection anyways."

Dolly looked unsure. "I don't know."

"Oh come on. The kids love you. Besides what's Fraiser going to do?"

She didn't wait for Dolly to answer but simply placed the name tag around her neck.

Everyone looked happier than they had days ago, Cameron noticed. The little kids were playing around, some of the older kids were sitting in the shops making small talk, others were on collections hauling huge trash bags filled with things they found around houses and others were simply walking around trying to make sense of what had happened. Everyone was huddled in groups, as if numbers would make them safer.

She walked on just feeling the sun on her face and just embracing the feeling of being free. Ever since her mom had married her stepdad she always felt like she was suffocating _. Cameron take care of Derek! Cameron go help your mom cook! Cameron why are you always in your room, come down here and help me carry these boxes!_ She was in a prison with nowhere to escape. No friends. No connection to anyone outside. And now here, she could be what she wanted, be the girl she was underneath the chains.

She was nearing the water, the pathway towards the blue sea.

"Can't swim can you?" One called. "Should've thought of that before you lied to us."

"Please I can't swim! Please someone!" The boy was struggling in the water. He couldn't swim!

Friasers thugs were laughing.

"Hey where are you going?" one leered at her.

Cameron jumped the cold water rushing to her face, chilling her body. Freezing she grabbed the boy who was nearly drowning. She pulled him out first and then herself laying her wet exhausted self under the sun.

"Are you ok?" She asked as the boy coughed and nodded. "Thank you."

"Hey you just came in between his punishment, that's a punishable offense miss."

"Well keep it to yourself." Cameron said pushing past them, the boy by her side.

"Fraisers going to her about this." They were following her now, unsure of what to do. One of them was 12 and the other 14.

"Whatever."

"He's right." The boy was talking to her. "Fraiser will find a way to punish you, just like he did to me, and all I did was skip my job."

Cameron throat constricted. Dolly.

She ran screaming her name.

"She's running. Take her to Fraiser!" The 12 year old, who Cameron vaguely remembered was called Patrick.

Building 401 was wide open and Cameron was sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help-" Dolly was pleading with Fraiser.

"No!" Cameron screamed running to Dolly. She pushed Fraiser out of the way, who looked confused.

"I'm so sorry Dolly- I'm –"Dolly smiled and then her eyes closed. "No – no please Dolly this is all my fault – I'm so sorry! "

"She's interrupted the boy's punishment!" Patrick had appeared. "Sir."

"SHUT UP." Cameron screamed. "CAN'T YOU SEE YOU KILLED HER? It was my fault, I told her to stay here and help out. Kill me alright, Sue me, do whatever you want, as long as you make her come back."

Fraiser was frozen. His thugs around him unsure of what to do.

"Can't do that can you?" Cameron whispered.

Cameron looked back at Dolly. Sweet Dolly who only wanted to help the little kids. Dead. And so in this new world Cameron still wasn't free. She was now a murder.


	10. Girl-napped

_"Every sunrise is an invitation for us to arise and brighten someone's day."_

 _― Richelle E. Goodrich_

Julian was feeling tired. After all that walking he was losing hope. Maybe he should have stayed back at the plane, he would have definitely be rescued by then. It had been 5 days, and there was nothing. Rachel was looking tired, he wasn't not any better. The only one who was enjoying it was Muskaan who seemed to think everything was an adventure.

"We're almost out of granola bars." Rachel checked, emptying her bag. "And we only have one frozen tilapia dinner."

"I hate tilapia." Muskaan frowned.

"I was so sure we would have found someone by now." Rachel muttered. "Maybe even a town or something, assuming this place is even inhabited by humans-Julian?"

"Do you see that?" He was looking into the far distance.

"What? What is it?" Muskaan asked trying to jump up and see.

"I think there's a fire there, well whatever is left of it. That means someone else is here, we just need to get closer-guys?"

Rachel and Muskaan were nowhere in sight. "Really funny guys. Just because you guys are hiding is not going to the change that fact that we are walking."

No answer.

"Fine, I'll carry you guys." Again no response.

"Ok I'm serious."

Julian looked around wildly. And then he was blind. He felt movement. Someone was carrying him and they were speaking in hushed tones.

"They took the other two, girls."

"Freaking Prepies."

"We're prep too."

Julian couldn't makes sense of what they were saying, but he knew they had Rachel and Muskaan.

He was dropped to the ground and the blindfold was removed. A group of girls were looking at him. They each had on purple plaid skirts and deep purple blazers embellished with a gold logo.

"Can you hunt?"

"What?" Julian asked bewildered. There were real live people in front of him!

"Can you hunt?" A girl walked forward. Like the rest she had on the same uniform expect hers was tattered and she had tied the skirt making it rise higher than the rest.

"I don't know." Julian said. He stood up. "Who are you?"

"We're from Montgomery Prep. Our bus crashed here when the driver disappeared. We've been here ever since."

"Where are my friends, Muskaan and Rachel? Which one of you took them?"

"Oh the two girls?" A blond chewing gum asked. "The boys took them. Probably hoping one of them can cook." They all sniggered.

The first girl walked to Julian. "Just like we're hoping you can hunt. We've been eating nothing but gum and candy for days."

"I need to get them back." Julian said.

"Please help us. We've had nothing to eat except what we brought for the trip." The blond said. "The boys are probably hunting right now, they know how."

"Why don't you ask them for help?" Julian raise a brow.

"We have a history. Between our schools- we're not supposed to get along."

Julian shook his head and fumbled for his bag. The last Tilapia dinner he had. The girls looked at it wide eyed.

"Go ahead." Julian said. "It doesn't taste great to be honest."

A fire and a few burns later the girls had cooked the fish and offered Julian a small piece. "Thank you."

He was surprised the girls could share the fish into 10 people and to his delight it was better than when Rachel cooked it. "This is amazing."

"Cressida here can cook almost anything." One of the girls said. "She made a casserole out of what we had, best meal we had until now."

The blond girl, Cressida blushed. "Bet the boys have more meat than this, they had weapons last time we saw them. All we have is this bus."

She pointed to the Montgomery Prep bus. Julian closed his eyes. "I'll help you hunt, although I have no idea where to begin, but after that you have to help me get my friends back."

The girls looked at each other and nodded in unison.


	11. Crash course into Italy

_Life's a game. You have to options. Either you play along or you sit in the bench, watching other play it._

 _\- Uknown_

Rachel wanted to scream but they had gagged her and Muskaan who looked at her with wide fearful eyes. The boys in front of her all had matching uniforms, Black pants and Navy blue blazers. There were about 13 of them from what Rachel could see.

"Hey where exactly do you think you're taking us?" Rachel shouted. She had taken off the gag. The boy looked at her "Keep it down."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Rachel was furious.

They dropped her to the ground. "Cook it."

She eyes the animal. It was a bird of some kind. Gross.

"No way. You cook it." Rachel crossed her arms.

"You cook it, or the little one gets it." Muskaan was suddenly surrounded by 3 of the boys.

"OK fine." Rachel said. She got a fire going and poked the sad bird on a stick, letting it cook from all the sides.

The boys looked at her in awe, "What it's not that hard to make a fire."

Their expressions said otherwise.

"You can't just poke anyone." Muskaan said solemnly to one boy who was poking her mangy curls. "That's rude."

"Leave her alone." Rachel said. "I'm cooking your stupid bird alright."

"Easy boys." The boy had a dark brown hair, with a pink streak down the middle. Edgy. "She'll stay put."

"There." Rachel said dropping the bird in front of the boys who didn't waste a second to devour it.

"What school did you guys run away from anyway?"

"We didn't run away. We're from Edgecroft Prep. We _were_ on a bus to Venice when the driver disappeared, stranding us here."

"Where's Julian?" Muskaan asked.

"Most likely the girls took him."

"Wait, we're in _Italy_?" Rachel struggled to speak. She was in Italy. Oh god. Anywhere but here.

"Yes." One of the boys said but it was Muskaan stood up. "I want Julian right now. Bring him here."

"That's strictly girl's territory." The boy with the pink hair said. "I'm Hector by the way."

"Well _Hector,_ why don't you go get him?" Muskaan crossed her arms. Even at 4 feet 5 inches she looked threatening.

"Like I said, girl's territory. We don't bother them, they don't bother us." Hector said standing back.

Italy. They were in Italy. They were in Italy.

"Wait you said the driver disappeared?" Rachel asked suddenly realizing something. She looked at Muskaan. "The pilot on our plan disappeared too. That's odd."

"Damn right." Hector said. "We've been waiting for almost a week for someone to help, but so far no one's shown up, until you two."

" _Three_." Muskaan said. "Our other friend is with the girls."

"Hey we're just trying to find some help." Hector said gently to Muskaan who had taken an instant dislike to the boy.

"We're looking for help ourselves. I don't know how we can help you." Rachel added.

"Well you can cook. We hunt. You cook. Simple." Hector said. Rachel glared at him. She would play along for now, she snuck a look at Muskaan who nodded, and then they were going to break Julian out of girl prison.


	12. Outside

Albert Hillsborough had made the decision yes. He had wanted to remove everything that reminded him of the FAYZ from his sight. So he had ordered everything in the previous FAYZ to be cleaned, so that construction for the new school could be made. England wanted to keep some of the debris to put in their museum. Albert agreed for a respectable amount of money. Albert was all about money. He was famous now. Famous for keeping children from starving and now he was responsible for _this_.

"I said to directly send all the junk to England, then why in goddamn hell did it end up in Italy?"

Brenda shook her head. "I sent all the documents to Italy, and had them sign the disclosure form as well. It was sent this morning along with the letter."

Albert grabbed the letter and looked up. "It's happening."

Albert knew the signs all too well. A barrier had appeared in Italy, similar to the one here in America. Of course FAYZ talk wasn't popular in Europe but still people knew about it. There were movies made, spearheaded by J-Todd, books published and blogs recounting the kids experiences in the FAYZ. But for it too all happen again - Albert's worst nightmare.

Brenda left. She had assured Albert that the England situation was under control. But Italy...that was Albert's doing. He looked at the documents in front of him. The cargo left for England, but somehow the new FAYZ had started in Italy. Why?

Had he recreated the FAYZ?

He needed to figure this out and that meant help.

"Brenda to main office." He said into his phone but Brenda was already at the door.

"Mr. Hillsborough, there's a group of people outside-"

Albert nodded. He expected this. "Send them in."

The doors were slammed open. Albert had expected this too. And then there was Sam. His face ablaze. Astrid next. She was older, her blond hair in a bun. She was wearing glasses. He wouldn't have expected anything less from the new publisher. Diana was as beautiful as ever, her ring gleaming on her hand. Newly engaged. Lana was the same, brown hair to the side an angry expression on her face. Her arms were laced with Sanjit who looked the same as usual, bright, happy, but with a look of dread as if he'd expected this. Roger and Edilio too. Married now. A surprise was Cinder in her usual black affair. Quinn, now founder of Quinn's Supreme Seafood, a world wide loved franchise, stepped in. He was fitter than ever. Brenda was losing focus. Not to self, Albert thought. Keep Quinn away from his future was next. Dekka was last, her hair now a vivid red. Her last tribute to Brianna.

There was a rush of hugs and crying and then everyone was seated.

"Albert!" This was expected of Astrid.

"Good morning to you too." Albert smiled. "I read your book, got my very own copy. Just needs an autograph."

"That's not why we're here." Dekka said. "But you know that already."

"Long time no see." Sam said finally. "How is it possible?"

"I don't know." Albert was pacing now. "I sent all the artifacts to England, somehow it ended up Italy, and somehow restarting the FAYZ."

"Don't say the name." Diana was fanning herself. "Brings back memories. By the way, how many months?"

Lana raised a brow. "You can tell?"

It was Astrid's turned to be surprised. "You're pregnant?"

Lana punched Sanjit. "I blame you."

"What can I say, my charm is irresistible." He winked.

Quinn was quiet. "Congratulations."

Edilio and Roger nodded as well. "So Albert care to explain?"

Sinder propped her legs on the table. "It's happening again isn't it?"

Albert nodded. "I'm afraid so."

Sam shook his head. "This time it's different. We know what happens, we know all the links, the weak spots- we can help."

"We can't be the heroes this time Sam." Diana said "Caine tried and you saw what happened."

Caine's name brought a chill in the room. It was reminder of what they had lost. Caine. Brianna. Mary. Francis.

"All we have is hope." Astrid said. "Hope. That this generation is stronger than we ever were."

"And that they don't have to see what we saw." Sam finished. "So how are we getting to Italy?"

Albert Hillsborough had not expected this.


	13. Mirages and Holes

**Just like I promised. MickeyMouse1234 your characters! Sorry I was just trying to find interesting ways to introduce them. It's short but she'll be important as the story goes on. :) Hope you like it! And everyone else I'm getting your characters in as well, I don't want to introduce them all at once, because that would be boring!**

 _"Fortunately, where reason failed, blind panic served well enough."_

 _\- N.K. Jemisin_

Before the plane had crashed there had been 2 more girls on the plane. These 2 girls had been screaming one minute and then they were in a field of grass lying down,holding hands, not a clue as to how they had gotten there the next.

"Lisa, we're alive right?" Lexi asked her eyes searching the area. "I can't see anything but green."

"If we are, then I'm in the same place you are." the blond said . "Only green and green."

They both laid there, eyes looking up at the place they had landed. The sky was the clearest blue Lexi had seen. She looked around. It was an expanse of just green everywhere. Flowers grew in bunches around them and the air smelled of sweet things.

"We _are_ dead." Lexi said running her hand through her curly hair and to the blondes surprise started laughing. "Oh my god, we're dead."

Lisa had noticed they were still holding hands and made a motion to remove hers, but Lexi shook her head. "Don't let go. Not yet. If I'm dead I want it to be with my best friend."

Lisa nodded and smiled before her expression to that of realization. "We were on a plane heading for New York, and then I remember us screaming and then after that-"

"Nothing." Lexi said eyes tracing the green expanse for a sign, a plane, a answer. "Maybe we are dead."

"Or we amnesic." Lisa McGarthy suggested her blond hair picking up with the wind. "That kind of stuff happens in movies right?"

The place was like spring time, with it's vast green valley, flowers of every kind growing underneath them. The sky a blue affair, wispy clouds reminding her of milk. Lexi's stomach grumbled and Lexi realized she was hungry. How long ago had they eaten? She had forgotten the taste of airplane food and her mouth was dry, her throat scratchy.

Lisa seemed to realize this and then it hit her. "Why are we the only ones here? Where's the plane? And everyone else?"

Lexi shook her head. "Do you think we're the only ones who-" she didn't want to say it. Saying it would make it true. "Dead?"

They walked through the green valley, Lexi felt the flowers, the grass touching her legs, the dew evaporating on her skin. And then Lisa asked. "Lex, what if- we're not dead but we're the ones that survived and we've just forgotten what happened?"

Lexi turned to her surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"When we were screaming as the plane was falling," Lisa started uneasily. "I was wishing so hard that we would end up somewhere else and then- we woke up here."

Lexi let out a laugh. "Lisa we were falling, of course we wanted more than anything to be somewhere else." She let out another laugh. "Even right now I'm seeing mirages. People and houses...god I really need some food."

She had been seeing people peeking from the grass, and in the distance she could see tiny houses. Lisa let out a gasp and Lexi screamed and she fell into darkness. "Lisa!"

Lisa said nothing and pointed upwards as Lexi realized that they had fallen down into a hole of some kind.

"What?" Lexi cried. "How? What is this hole for?" she looked around in horror suddenly getting a bad vibe from this place."I need to get out of here."

Lisa nodded and they both grabbed at the walls trying to climb out. The ground beneath them shook and Lisa fell back. Lexi's eyes widened, grabbing on the wall even harder. Lisa stood up nervously clawing at the walls. The ground rumbled beneath them again and Lexi clung onto the wall desperately. She would get out and Lisa too.

"Lexi!" Lisa cried suddenly. "Get out quickly! And get me out too!"

"Grab on to the wall!" Lexi cried, the ground was shaking violently now. Chunks of rock and dirt falling on them. Lisa slid back avoiding a rock that would have pulverized her head. "LISA CLIMB UP!"

Lisa jumped onto the wall following Lexi's lead, who clawed at the dirt walls. The chunks were falling harder know and suddenly Lexi couldn't see.

"I can't see! LISA! I can't see- Lisa- AHGHH!" She hit the ground hard. Lisa was gasping from somewhere. Lexi felt something slimy inch on her arm and let out another scream followed by Lisa's.

And then she felt a thump, Lisa screaming and the silence. Something was being wretched away from her arms and then she was flying.


	14. Trapped

_"Yeah, as long as we know we're trapped, we still have a chance to escape."_

 _-Sara Grant Neva_

"Best thing about this place, is the breakfast. Sugar and more sugar." Ria licked her lips.

They were at _Giovanni's,_ Pedro's dad's restaurant. Pedro was behind the counter making their breakfast. A misshapen meal of Cannoli's and bagels with onion and chives. Pedro was saving the gelato for emergencies. Cameron had stayed back in Building 401 taking care of the littles now that Dolly was gone.

Sandy rolled her eyes. "She says until her teeth start rotting."

"She's just can't accept that fact that everything she eats actually ends up in my stomach." Ria answered.

That earned a laugh from everyone.

"We can't just keep calling this place "it." Pedro said. "Sort of kills the fact that this is _our_ world."

Alfonso didn't like the idea of _their_ world. He didn't want to run a world, and as an older kid the responsibility automatically fell on him. Kids would look at him to fix things, they would look at Pedro, at Asia, at all the older kids. And Dolly. He didn't want to end up like that. No, a world full of children was never a good idea. Children were selfish, cruel, stubborn, and a place like that, Alfonso didn't want to imagine what its end would be like.

"There are a lot of theories that kids have come up with about this place." Asia's voice brought him back to reality. This was their world and whether he liked it or not, he was part of it. "Some think its aliens, others say Fraiser did it because he wanted to be a king. Some claim that it's a punishment, and others say it's the end of the world."

"Kids must have a lot of free time to think about this." Alfonso muttered. "While we're hearing trying to get people from getting murdered-"

"Are we?" Sandy asked suddenly. "What have we even done to stop all of this?"

Everyone was silent. The truth was, they hadn't. They hadn't done anything. They had in fact let Fraiser step up and take control.

"No one's taking control." Ria said. "Ever since Fraiser took his stand, no one's stood up to him. It's just Fraiser vs everyone else. We've just sat there and watched."

"Someone needs to step up to him and take a stand. Murdering people for not doing their jobs, starving children when they don't listen. This place isn't going to-"Zara started.

Alfonso felt ashamed. It was because he didn't take a stand children were suffering. Children were being starved, killed and hurt and he didn't even have a clue-

There was a huge gong sound from the distance and Zara heaved a heavy sigh. "Collections time. See you guys later."

The conversation took a different turn from there. They waved bye to Zara who grumbled as she grabbed a black trash bag that was supposed to be filled at the end of the day with whatever she could find from the houses.

"We can't do anything. We're powerless. If we say anything, we'll be next." Ria cried.

"Well we can't wait for someone else to do it for us either." Sandy agreed. "It's got to be now."

"She's right." Alfonso said. He was going to take a stand. No one else was going to get hurt because he would do something about it. "I'll do it. I've known him longer."

"No, we'll all do it, together." Pedro said. "I'll go with you, and anyone else who wants to come."

"I'm in." Asia stood up.

Sandy looked down. "I have to help the children here Al. If something wrong happens there will be no one to help."

"I'm sorry." Ria looked apologetic "I don't think I can do it- given our history." Alfonso nodded like he understood.

Asia started the car. The Magnolia hotel, that Fraiser had made his headquarters, was going to be farther if they just walked.

"You three!" It was Zara.

"I thought you were doing your collections?"

"I was, but _then_ I saw Fraiser- he was running and he looked scared and made a run towards the forest."

"Well I don't give a damn about him." Asia said "After what he's done-"

Alfonso nodded. "Take us there."

"What?" Pedro was indignant. "You want to follow that murder?"

"Whatever has got Fraiser scared, isn't good news." Alfonso said. "I've known Fraiser long enough to know that he always has things under control, and he never shows it when he's scared. This thing must be serious, if it's gotten Fraiser scared."

Zara stepped forward. "I'm coming with you."

"You can't skip Collections." Asia said gently. "Fraiser will –"

"Alfonso will protect me." Zara said firmly. "I trust him. We all do."

It touched him that she believed so much in him. At least someone looked up to him. He would do it for them. He would face Fraiser for them.

She led them all to the end of town, where the beginning of the forest was emerging. "There he is!"

Fraiser was sitting on a rock, staring at his hands. And then without warning the tree in front of them was burning.

Asia nearly screamed had Pedro not covered her mouth. Fraiser turned-

"Whose there? Show yourself!" Fraiser did sound scared and Alfonso had the urge to comfort his old friends. Instead they all fled to the nearest thing they could find – a small cramped space under the rocks.

"He- he just – with his hands- fire!" Asia breathed.

Alfonso was trying to make sense of this. Fraiser had just made _fire_ come out of his hands. _Real_ fire. Hot burning red orange flames danced in his vision

"That's what he's been hiding." Zara realized. "Yesterday when he got mad, he raised his hands but stopped and ran out nervously-We all thought it was weird."

"He can't control it." Pedro nodded. "He doesn't know what he's capable of – and so he's trying to hide it."

"You don't seem surprised?" Alfonso noticed.

Pedro looked uncomfortable and Alfonso didn't press.

"Yeah." Asia said. "But doesn't it seem like all of it is connected? The adults disappearing, then Fraiser getting this fire power it's like a chain reaction – ew."

She had touched something white and sticky. It was all over the space. "Let's get out of here."

They walked around not knowing where to go. "Hey wait- what's that?"

"Don't touch that!" Asia cried but Pedro had and let out a yelp.

"What the hell is that?" He stepped back.

"I- found it yesterday." Asia said. She took a breath. "Ok, the first day when everyone had disappeared. I tried to run away – I couldn't accept that everyone was gone. So I ran- drove. I drove towards it and realized –"

Zara finished it looking up where the wall never seemed to end. "We're trapped."


	15. Magnolia Hotel

_It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities._

 _-J. K. Rowling_

Cameron didn't head to building 401 after she left _Giovanni's_. Instead she had stomped right towards Fraisers place. The greedy little bug had taken the Magnolia Hotel for himself. After last night she realized that she didn't have anything to fear. Who was Fraiser? Some local bad boy. But Cameron wasn't scared. And if she was she didn't show it.

Her mind flashed back to the week before the adults had disappeared. Her mom had found about her skipping school and her boyfriend, Michael. Normal parents would have grounded her. Not her mom. After the divorce, she had lost it. She worried too much, she freaked out over everything and so she did the only thing she could think of. She took Cameron out of school and got her signed up for online classes. She put Cameron at work full time at Papa John's. She had taken her phone, and forbidden her to talk to any of her friends as they were 'bad' influences. In her own way it was like this place. There was Cameron and there was everyone else. She was trapped with nowhere to go. But Cameron had still found a way, to sneak out and then she just had to get caught.

Her mom called her reckless. Said she didn't know what to do with an ungrateful stubborn daughter like her. She had threatened to send her to a boarding school England and that's where she was 2 days before, on a plane to England. Cameron shook away the thought. It brought jarring memories of a red head who didn't make it.

There were 2 guards stationed at the front. Cameron expected this. They were the same guards who had pushed the boy in the water before, Nonny and Patrick. Nodding to herself, she fished out a firecracker she had found from a tourist shop that had been raided by the kids. She estimated the door was about a yard away. If she ran fast she could make it.

POP. CRACKLE. POP. CRACKLE.

And then she made a run for it as Patrick and Nonny ran to investigate the noise. The inside had air conditioning. Cameron shivered a little. The hotel was definitely worth seeing. Everything was made out of glass. Curved staircases glided around elevators and true to its name Magnolia's flooded the place. Most were wilting, Cameron figured no one had watered them since the adults disappeared.

"What business do you have here?" A boy about 10 was sitting at the front desk. His face was coated with a dust of cheesy orange freckles. Well I guess as long as the person was human, Fraiser would employ them. She vaguely wondered if Fraiser paid them…why would anyone work for Fraiser, well I guess fear of getting killed played a huge factor

"What is it to you?" Cameron snapped. "You one of Fraiser's people?"

The boy laughed. "So you're looking for Fraiser. I can tell you this. He's not here. He's gone off to do some _thinking_."

"Oh I didn't ask. But thank you." Cameron said rolling her eyes. She already had what she wanted. Room 011. The key fit into the hole perfectly, and she turned the handle excited.

The room smelled of burnt paper. There was a bed, no doubt one of the larger ones. A bathroom, private closet. T.V, a table, couches. Fraiser really had outdone himself. Her eyes rested on the table where she could see a list of names. She did a quick count. 15 had been scratched out.

Her name was perfectly fine but with a quick heartbeat she noticed that Nico's had been scratched off. As well as Maria's and a few other she recognized from the hi's and hello's she exchanged when she saw them.

There was a crash and Cameron hastily shoved the papers back and double checked the room, making sure it looked the same as it was before she came. On second thought she grabbed a few of the chocolate Toblerone's. He wouldn't miss a few.

One of the Magnolia pots were on the hotel floor when Cameron reached the stairs, and Fraiser was standing there glaring at someone Cameron couldn't see.

"I hope you make the right choice."

Fraiser slammed another vase of flowers and Cameron slowly stepped back. Whoever it was, obviously had Fraiser mad. She would have to find another way to escape. She walked back to Fraisers room, there had to be a back exit or something. But someone was walking up the stairs, she had to act fast. A window. And then Fraiser opened the door to his room.


	16. Shadow Boy

_No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky._

 _-Bob Dylan_

They introduced themselves as the birds of prey and Lexi could see why they had chosen the name. Each person had fashioned themselves an accessory made of feathers. Some wore it as necklaces, others with feather headpieces, and many others with feather skirts. Lexi could only wonder what large bird they had killed to get those feathers. They ranged from small kids to teenagers. The smallest kid was 7 and Lexi could see a metal pipe on his side.

"So no adults at all?" Lisa asked carefully. "They all just vanished?"

The boy nodded. "No one."

Lisa whispered to Lexi. "That explains why the plane fell. If the adults vanished, the pilot must have too and then no was controlling the plane."

Lexi nodded but she eyed the kids in front of her warily. How had they survived and decided to form a pack in just a day? As far as she could remember the plane had crashed yesterday or at least a few days until they had regained conscience. She snuck a glance to Lisa who was deep in thought, no doubt thinking the same thing.

"That's not the only thing." The boy had introduced himself as Cicero. He looked towards the rest of his tribe and nodded. Lexi wondered if this was the right time to run but before she could, she heard the distinct sound of flapping and someone suddenly aimed a bow at her. Lexi stood up indignant, ready to fight. Is that why they had kept her alive till now? To kill her?

"GET DOWN!" Cicero screamed and Lexi rolled her eyes. They didn't scare her. Lisa looked behind her and let out a scream. Lexi turned around, just as Cicero screamed "NOW!" and to horror screamed as for the 2nd time that day she was grabbed. But this time it was not a person. Lexi could make out large claws that had curled around her torso. She was screaming as she looked up. There were wings, and feathers, and if she wasn't screaming and nearly terrified she would have thought that a giant bird was carrying her. Someone was screaming her name. She looked down to where Lisa was looking at her in horror. The tribe was getting smaller, their arrows missing their target.

Lexi screamed louder wishing someone would save her and then they had landed. The bird threw her into a huge nest and Lexi scrambled to the side, not wanting to be it's dinner. It simply tweeted and flew away. Lexi could see it was huger than any other bird she had seen. Its feathers a red affair, it's beak looking sharper now that it was the same height as her, it's claws as big as a car. As it flew away it's wings were bigger than anything Lexi had ever see and she let out a frustrated scream.

"Shut up!" Lexi turned to the voice. A boy with black hair was standing not a few feet away from her. Lexi swore she hadn't seen him before. "If you scream, it'll hear you."

"Who are you?" Lexi asked. "You- you saw that thing right- you can see it too right? It's a giant bird right? Like I'm not going crazy right?" Lexi was shaking. She was just carried to this place by a giant bird- had she hit her head harder than she thought after falling from the plane?

"I'm Nico." the boy said. "I've been watching it for a few days. It doesn't eat you- it just kills for fun."

"That's not any better!" Rachel threw her hands in the air. No adults. A giant bird. What was next? "We need to get out of here."

"I can't." the boy said apologetic. "Not right now. If you can wait till night, I can get us out."

Lexi stomped her right foot. "Look can you just explain what's going on? I don't know about you but I've been told that every adult here just vanished and now A GIANT BIRD JUST CARRIED ME TO HIS NEXT SO THAT IT COULD EAT ME?"

Lexi was breathing hard and she suddenly found herself looking at the little boy who could be no older than 12. She should have been the one comforting him. How was he so calm?

"I wish I could." He sighed. "I fell of a plane, you know. And then when I woke up, everyone but kids had vanished. And I've been able to do these things that aren't normal- things like this bird. How can a bird be so big? If I couldn't do what I could do - I wouldn't have believed it either."

"You fell from a plane?" Lexi asked. Could it be the same one? "The Airway Tran?"

The boy nodded. "How-"

"Me too!" Lexi smiled suddenly. "I was on the plane too- me and my friend before-!"

"Your friend?" The boy looked up eyes wide. "She survived?" He looked so excited that Lisa had survived Lexi felt hurt. No one cared about her like that.

She suddenly heard the flapping of wings and her eyes widened. The boy motioned for her and she followed him, almost running as the bird landed. Heart thumping she looked towards the bird that squawked and tweeted looking around for her and throwing a fit when it couldn't find her. Lexi shook her head. No matter how much she looked at it she couldn't believe it- there was a giant bird, alive and real that was standing in front of her- it was like one of those vacation turned horror stories for her. She turned to Nico and realized what she had wanted to ask.

"You said you could do things that made you believe that such a thing as a giant bird could exist-" she eyed him carefully. "What is it that you can do?"

Nico looked at her and she could see a sheer terror behind his eyes. "I can turn into darkness."


	17. Gone

_The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion._

 _-Frederick Douglass_

"An uprising, or a rebellion of some sort." Sandy proposed knocking down a black pawn.

"Exactly." Pedro said. "That would get Frasier to step down. Checkmate."

"And more kids would join, he would _have_ to step down." Zara nodded. "Move that piece."

"I'm doing it!" Ria said impatiently. "You know there are rumors that not all the kids are following Frasier."

"Ahem." Zara coughed.

"Besides you." Sandy moved her white piece 2 spaces and Zara groaned. "That was my best piece!"

"Checkmate again." Pedro gave Sandy a high five.

"What do you mean not following Frasier?" Alfonso asked. He was refereeing the game. "I saw that – and Zara quit that."

"I mean like for example there's a rumor that there are a group of kids who have formed a sort of tribe, they live near the ocean- I think they had name- uh water-?"

"Waterloggers!" Pedro cried. "That's what they were! I remember seeing their spray work on the boats when I was getting some sand from the beach."

"The waterloggers?" Ria rolled her eyes. "Fancy name for a bunch of raggedy kids. They've all dyed their hair blue right? And they have those long hideous seashell necklaces?"

"Maybe Asia should join them." Pedro added as Asia smacked him. "I hate water remember."

"Are there a lot of their tribes?" Alfonso asked. He hadn't even known about anything like this.

"A few. They're all mostly out of sight." Pedro said. "Each has their own name, and they all stick together. They don't listen to Frasier and don't have anything to do with us townies."

Townies. That's what they were.

"Pretty neat idea though." Alfonso noted. "Coming up with a tribe, and your own rules-"

"That's not how the world works." Asia said. "If we all split into tribes, it'll only be time before tribes start fighting over resources and the like."

"It could also be peaceful though," Sandy countered. "People would stay within their tribe and not bother any outside of it. Little fights here and there are of course inevitable."

Ria suddenly turned to Zara "Sweetie it's you turn to do the cleaning."

Zara muttered something before running to no doubt get them over with.

"We're sort of a tribe," Asia said out loud. "Don't you think?"

Alfonso nodded. They spent almost all their time together, Pedro was like his brother and Sandy and Ria were always close. Even Zara and Asia were starting to seem like family. They all stayed in Sandy and Ria's house, which had become a permanent home to them. They had tried living apart, but memories of the world before brought them back. It was always good to have people around you.

"I'm so done with this game!" Ria cried as Asia played for Zara and knocked over her king. "Imma get me some Z's. I couldn't sleep the last couple of days, I kept hearing noises from the basement. I was going to send you to check on it, but I think it's stopped."

Pedro suddenly got up and ran- towards the basement. Alfonso looked at Ria and they followed him.

"Pedro?" Alfonso found him standing in front of a tiny chair. Ropes were lying on the ground near it.

"She's gone."


	18. Bulldog

**Hey Skylar The Swifthearted, here is your character like promised! Sorry it took so long to update this chapter, I've had a lot of family problems going on but nonetheless I've update! I hope you like your character, she will be more prominent now that she's been introduced. Please read and review!**

"Are you saying that _you_ tied your little sister to a chair, because she _wasn't feeling ok_?" Alfonso couldn't control the disbelief and anger in his voice.

"You don't know-" Pedro was shaking on the floor "how it was when she- she turned into that _thing_ , when she almost _killed me_ , you don't know."

Asia walked up to Pedro, dropping to her knees to Pedro's level. "She's like Fraiser isn't she?"

Pedro nodded and Alfonso threw his hands up, frustrated.

"What do you mean, she's like Fraiser?" Ria's voice was high pitched. "What does she mean?"

Before Alfonso could answer, the room shook and they could hear a faint scream emit from outside. Pedro's eyes widened looking at Alfonso who understood perfectly where Pedro's missing little sister had gone.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on?" Ria cried stomping after Perdo and Alfonso who were ransacking her kitchen. Alfonso had thrown open the drawers pulling out ladles and metal spoons while Pedro had secured rope and tape.

"Knives?" Alfonso asked looking at Pedro who shook his head violently.

"We're not going to kill her!" Asia added grabbing a wooden stick from a drawer and handing a rolling pin to Ria.

"So no one is going to answer me?" Ria cried loudly but accepted the rolling pin Asia had handed her. Sandy took the metal spatula wordlessly following Alfonso out the door.

Truthfully Alfonso had no idea what he was going out to face. Pedro didn't elaborate either and so Alfonso hadn't had much to prepare for. There was another scream and loud cheering as they ran towards what seemed to be a huge crowd gathered in the middle of the square. Alfonso almost ran back. The thing- in the middle was a large dog like creature with large fangs dripping with the blood of a small 5 year blood who lay near it on the ground. Pedro made a strangled noise from his throat and Asia, Sandy and Ria gasped.

"Oh." Ria started sarcastically looking at her wooden rolling pin. "So we're going to catch a bad dog, well why didn't you say so?"

She was staring crazed eyed at the thing. The crowd was surprisingly cheering as the dog went rabid attacking the little 5 year old who was already presumably dead.

In the center was a small 10 year old boy with large glasses and an array of freckles. He was standing unconcerned with arms crossed as the rabid dog attacked the boy.

"Now now, easy there." the boy said raising both his hands, the dog followed in a dreamy trance. "Easy now."

Pedro's jaw dropped.

"That's my sister!" he whispered furious as Ria turned to him eyes popping. " _Maria_!?"

"Why are they all just watching?" Sandy asked her voice low. "A boy just died. And who is that kid? He doesent look like he's from here."

Alfonso watched as the red haired boy walked along the crowd and without warning pulled out a small girl with braided hair from the crowd...Zara!

Sandy gasped and Asia was hyperventilating. "Oh my god, somebody get her out of there, right now!"

"This one here, doesent understand the idea of fighting for the glory. Should we teach her then?"

The crowd cheered in response.

Zara looked up, eyes fearful as he scooted back, trying to hide away from the crowd.

"Now boy, fight!" The freckled boy commanded as the dog edged slowly towards Zara. Alfonso made a move but before he could say anything there was a new voice in the crowd that yelled "STOP!"

Another girl with red hair and freckles stepped from within the crowd. Her large over sized shirt paired with shorts made her loook extremely small in compared to everyone else.

"Can't you see this is wrong? He's already killed one person! How many more will you kill?" she added growling at the freckled boy.

The crowd murmured. The boy just shook his head. "Now glory doesent see age, nor does it see wrong or right. Wouldn't you like to join our little friend over here Cee cee." He pointed to Zara who was motionless on the ground.

The red-head stomped right up to the ginger haired boy. It was almost comical as she more than towered over him.

"No. I will not join your stupid little game of glory - you hear me- AGHH!"

The dog had lunged at her but Zara had pulled her out of the way. The two girls cowered at the edge of the crowd clutching eachother for support.

"Alfonso!" Asia cried desperately her grip tightening on his shoulder. "Do something!"

Pedro was already walking. Alfonso watched as his closest friend marched right up in the middle of the crowd with his rope and metal spoon and planted himself in front of the dog like creature.

"Maria..." he started his voice shaking. "Remember Papi, remember Pedrito, I'm Pedrito, you remember me right? _Mi_ _maragarita dulce_..."

The dog was motionless for a moment before lunging again. The crowd was going wild now as Pedro pushed the dog back with all his might. The dog stumbled back unsure of what to do now and Pedro stood back up triumphantly... but not for long. The dog bared its fangs and this time it was Sandy who ran past Alfonso and screamed Pedro throwing him a red blanket.

"A bull fight." Asia cried in amazement. "But will it work?"

"I don't know." Sandy said honestly as the crowd roared again. The red head boy from before was slowly disappearing into the crowd.

The boy sensing he was being followed ran faster and Alfonso stopped to catch his breathe as the boy disappeared into the forest, red hair flying behind him.

Sighing Alfonso made his way back to the square where the crowd had become smaller. His eyes rested on a small piece of red fabirc. No. No. Alfonso ran. Pedro couldn't have...no.

Zara stopped in front of him and he instinctively hugged her protectively in his arms.

"Pedro?" he asked finally the suspense killing him. Wordlessly she pointed to a flailing Asia who was on the ground.

"He's gone." Asia said not making any sense. "How does he think thats ok?"

"They just disappeared in the crowd." Sandy explained. "Pedro was winning and then he led the dog away with the red cloth, some people followed him but now no one knows where he or maria are. I don't know if she transformed back but Pedro left with her. He's gone, Alfonso."

"I'm sorry." Alfonso turned to the new voice. The red haired girl who had stood up for Zara in the crowd. "This is all my fault."

Ria rounded on her. "Well missy you better fix it, my friend is lost somewhere with a rabid dog-"

"Ria." Sandy pushed her away gently as the girl continued unabashed.

"I'm afraid this is my cousins doing, he's very ambitious now that everyone's gone-"

"Your cousin?"

"Dalton." the girl answered. "Second cousins fortunately and myself Carlie Baton."


End file.
